Spring lock electrical connector



Aug. 20, G. F. LONG SPRING LOCK ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed July 18, 1966 30 IN MEN-ran:

GLEN F. LONG Br ,ZL LEMLW 44 56 36 32 HTTenNEYS United States Patent 3,398,390 SPRING LOCK ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Glen F. Long, Dallas, Tex., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed July 18, 1966, Ser. No. 565,967 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-91) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical connector plug for a multi-contact connector having spring mounted finger locking members with polarizing features and means for clamping the cable to the housing with the elimination of external clamps, and the provision of a sighting window to determine the degree of penetration on the cable sheath in the housing structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a particular feature of this invention that a multicontact connector structure has been provided, which takes the usual multicontact plug female and male connector components, to provide for their connection by means of a spring lock feature which locks the two connector halves together for an easy lock and unlock arrangement. A spring is mounted on one side of the housing components, which, for the purpose of example, may be the female connector cover, which locks to the flanges of the male connector housing, and which also provides a polarizing feature to prevent reverse connection.

In addition, the housing is provided with an internal Cable clamp arrangement which eliminates the usual external draw tight nut and bolt arrangement, which prevents wires from catching and eliminates the problem of the clamp getting bent by forceful engagement with other objects. The female connector housing is further provided with a window cut in the housing or hood to allow sighting of the degree of penetration of the cable sheath into the hood. Thus, there has been provided an inexpensive yet rugged and simple means for connecting the cable to the connector housing and determining the correct degree of penetration of the cable sheath into the housing structure.

The above features are objects of this invention and further objects will appear in the detailed description which follows and will be otherwise apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof. It is to be understood that these drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention is not limited thereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the connected male and female plug halves with the spring lock of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation taken from the floor side of FIGURE 1 of the connected plugs;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the connected P FIGURE 4 is a view in section taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 showing the rear of the female connector;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1 showing the spring lock engaging structure;

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an isometric view showing a cable clamp element;

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the male and female plugs in the disconnected position; and

See

FIGURE 9 is a view taken similarly to FIGURE 2; but showing the plugs in a disconnected position.

THE DISCLOSURE Referring to the drawings, the connector is generally identified by the reference numeral 20. The connector comprises a male multi-contact connector plug 22 and a female plug 24. It will be understood that when the two plugs are joined together there are a number of male prongs in the male plug 22, which engage with the corresponding female sockets in the female plug 24, as is conventional in the electrical communication art for a multi-contact plug of this structure. The individual prongs and sockets in the face of the male plug 22 and the female plug 24 are not necessary to be shown.

The male plug 22 is provided with a mounting plate 26, such that it may be mounted on a rack or the like and it has a number of individual leads 28 which are connected to the prongs in the face of the plug, as is conventional. The male plug 22 is further provided with a cover or housing 30 having an opening 32 at the top, and a similar opening 34 at the bottom located adjacent one of the sides at a point removed from the center so as to provide for connecting of the plug in a polarized fashion in order that the female plug can be connected to the male in only the correct fashion and Without the opportunity of accidental reversing. The openings 32 and 34 are formed by striking out a portion of the material to provide both the opening and an upturned flange 36 at the top and a similar flange 38 at the bottom.

The female plug 24 is provided with a housing 40 which has a cover 42 at the front end for the female plug portion, which is generally rectangular in cross-sectional configuration and is slightly larger than the cover 30 of the male plug so as to receive it therein. At the rear of the cover the housing is provided with a hood 44, which receives the cable and the individual leads adapted to be connected to the multiple contact plug located in the cover and which form part of the conventional multi-contact plug.

The spring lock engagement feature of this invention is provided by a pair of spring members 50 and 52 located on the top and the bottom of the female plug housing. The spring fingers are identical in construction and are both anchored, as by rivets 53, to the rear wall of the housing and biased against the sides. The spring finger 50 in its specific structure, includes a medial hand engaging portion 54, a curved bearing portion 56, and a hooked engaging portion 58 to provide the lock engagement with slots 32 and 34. The dotted lines in FIGURE 2 show the position of the spring members when force is applied against the hand engaging portion 54 to disengage from locking relation with the lock slots in the male member.

As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, the hood 44 of the housing of the female member is provided with a strap or plate for anchoring or connecting a pair of cables 60 and 62 inside the female plug housing. The strap is designated by the reference numeral 64 and is adapted to be drawn tight against the cables by means of a pair of bolts 66, which may be tightened from the exterior of the hood.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the hood is further provided with sight opening 70 located a slight distance in front of the cable strap plate. By means of this opening the positioning of the degree of penetration of the cable sheaths into the hood may be determined for accurate workmanship, and the individual leads 72 in the cables can be identified. It will be understood that these individual leads, by means of the connection of the male and female plugs, are electrically identified with individual leads 28 in the male plug, which is the purpose of the use of the connector, as is conventional in this art.

3 USE The connector plug of this invention is very simply employed. The connection of the cables 60 and 62 is simply eifected after the preliminary removal of the sheath and to expose the individual leads in the usual fashion. After the removal of the sheath has been effected, the two cables are inserted underneath the cable strap plate and the leads are connected to the appropriate female sockets in the female plug. The sighting of the exposure of the cable sheath through the window 72 insures that the proper exposure of the end of the leads for connection is made. After the electrical connection of the individual leads has been effected, the cable is then connected and drawn tight by tightening the bolts 66 and 68 to anchor the strap plate against the cable ends. This provides a firm and secure engagement of the cable Within the hood 44 of the housing for the female plug. There are no exposed connectors, and a streamlined appearance and connection is provided without the exposure of external connectingdevices which can be bent or caught on various objects.

Once the cable has been connected to the female plug, it is adapted to be very simply connected to the male plug. The male plug 22 may be mounted upon a rack by means of the flange 26, as is conventional in the art, and it will be understood that the individual leads 28 may be wired to any appropriate electrical circuits in the usual fashion. The connection of the female plug to the male plug is then simply effected by opening the jaws of the spring members 50 and 52 by applying pressure against the hand or finger engaging portions 54 of the spring members to force them to move in the position of the dotted lines shown in FIGURE 2. This opens the jaws of the spring members, such that the engaging portions 58 can open and then drop down into the open slots 32 and 34 in the top and the bottom of the cover for the male plug.

The positioning of the slots and the engaging portions of the spring lock members to one side of the center of the covers provides the polarizing feature and prevents accidental reversal of the connections of the male and female plugs. The struck out flange portions 36 and 38 for the top and bottom slots on the cover of the male member serve to hold the engaging portion of the spring lock members to prevent accidental drawing apart of the female plug from the male plug.

The disengagement of the female member from the male member is effected in the reverse manner by bearing against the hand or finger engaging portions 54 of the spring lock member to open the spring members to allow the female plug to be withdrawn.

Various changes and modifications may be made within this invention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of the invention as embodied in the claims hereinbelow.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connecting plug for a multi-lead cable, said plug comprising a male member and a female member, the male member having a cover telescopically receivable within a cover provided for the female member, said plug being provided with locking means to prevent accidental disengagement and to ensure proper connection, said locking means comprising a pair of locking elements on the cover of one of said members adapted to engage a pair of lock openings in the cover of the other one of said members when the plug members are connected together, the locking elements being asymmetrically mounted on the cover and extending beyond the cover of the female member and having a hooked end portion engageable in the lock openings, said locking elements being spring biased against the female cover and provided with a finger operating portion manipulatable by pressure against the cover to cause the hooked end portions to open from their locking position, said locking elements being connected to the rear of the cover and provided with an inwardly directed U-shaped curved bearing portion connected to the hooked end and bearing against the cover, said finger operating portion connecting the bearing portion with the end of the cover.

2. The electrical connecting plug of claim 1 in which one of the plug members has a cover having a cable opening receiving a cable and means to secure the cable to the plug member inside the cover, said means comprising a clamp receiving a cable between the clamp and the interior of the cover.

3. The electrical connecting plug of claim 1 in which the female plug member has an opening in the cover receiving a cable and means to secure the cable to the plug member inside the cover, said means comprising a clamp receiving the cable between the clamp and the interior of the cover, said cover being further provided with a sight opening in advance of the clamp providing for visual inspection of the cable leads.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 664,144 12/ 1900 Gerhardt 339-91 2,043,796 6/1936 Frank 339-185 2,194,769 3/1940 Reed 339-91 2,226,733 12/1940 McLarn 339-103 2,659,872 11/1953 Gilbert 339-103 3,185,955 5/1965 Keller 339-91 3,317,880 5/1967 Meyer 339-31 3,317,887 5/1967 Henschen et al 339-276 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,119,369 12/1961 Germany.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner. I. H. MCGLYNN., Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,398,390 August 20, 1968 Glen F. Long It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading to the printed specification, lines 3 and 4,

"General Electric Company, a corporation of New York" should read Universal Controls Corporation, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Texas Signed and sealed this 20th day of January 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

